Amethyst Conch Shell Earrings

Two conch shell cross-sections, abstracted into a paired motif and accented with amethyst, give these earrings a form drawn directly from the natural world. They belong to the first design period of the Taller de las Delicias, the workshop Spratling founded in 1931.

Translating a shell's spiral cross-section into wearable silver is characteristic of how Spratling abstracted natural and Mexican forms into legible designs, and the amethyst adds a note of native stone to the composition. The doubled motif gives the pair its symmetry.

First-period earrings combining a natural-form motif with semi-precious stone come to market only occasionally and are collected as examples of Spratling's early design vocabulary.